In a Return of the number of persons in the several Gaols of England,
confined for Debt, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, May
13, 1835, we have an "Account of the Number of Persons confined for
Debt in the Fleet Prison during the following Years:
1830 1831 1832 1833 1834
Number confined 742 700 884 746 769
Number charged in Execution 105 136 134 126 156
And the amount of the debt and costs for which each party was so
charged varied from £2 to £18,017.
I look in vain in the _Times_ for the paragraph to which the Warden
alludes in the following letter:
"The Warden presents his compliments to the Editor of the
_Times_, and begs to state, that a paragraph having appeared in
the paper of this morning, stating that the Fleet Prison is very
full, and that a guinea and a half a week is paid for a single
room, and that four, five, and six persons are obliged to live
in a small apartment.
"The Warden, not being aware of this, should it in any case
exist, and which is contrary to the established regulations
against any person so offending, the prison not being so full as
in former years, there being considerably less, on an average,
than two prisoners to each Room, and being also exceedingly
healthy.
"The Warden has also to add, that the rest of the paragraph
relating to the Fleet is totally without foundation.
"Fleet Prison, March 7, 1836."
In the outside sheet of the _Times_, February 21, 1838, occurs the
following advertisement: "ONE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD.--Escape.--ESCAPED
from the Fleet Prison, on the evening of Wednesday the 14th day of
February instant. ALFRED MORRIS, late of 22 Dean Street, Tooley Street,
Southwark. The said Alfred Morris is about 30 years of Age, about 5
feet 6 inches high, dark complexion, and of a Jewish Caste, prominent
Nose, somewhat flat pointed, dark, irregular whiskers, stout figure,
and rather bow legged," &c., &c.
Anent this escape, the _Times_ of February 16th has a paragraph such
as we can hardly imagine ever could have appeared in a paper so steady
and sober, as the _Times_ now is: "THE WARDEN OF THE FLEET--(From a
Correspondent). Yesterday a gentleman of some misfortune and of great
appearance, for he wore a wig, moustaches, and a Spanish Cloak, was
introduced as an inmate of Brown's Hotel, so called from the Warden
having a license to sell wines, beer, and ale to his prisoners,
through the 'patent never ending always improving Juddery spigot and
fawcet tap,' &c. In about half an hour the said bewhiskered gentleman
leaves cloak, wig, and moustaches in the room of a Mister Abrahams,
a prisoner, and walks quietly out, very politely bidding the turnkey
'good morning.' At night the excellent crier of the Prison, Mr. Ellis,
made the galleries echo, and the rooms re-echo, with his sometimes very
cheering voice (when he announces to those who wish such things as a
discharge, for it is not all who do), in calling, _altissimo voce_,
'Mr. Alfred Morrison! Mr. Alfred Morrison! Mr. Alfred Morrison!' but as
no Mr. Alfred Morrison answered to the interesting call, every room was
searched in the due performance of the crier's duty, but no Mr. Alfred
Morrison was to be found. And the Worthy and excellent warder, the
keeper of so many others in, is himself let in to the tune of £2,600;
some say more, none say less.
'Go it, ye cripples! crutches are cheap!
W. Brown is no longer asleep!'"
In a leading article in the _Times_ of November 13, 1838, upon juvenile
crime, and the incitors thereto, we read the following: "The Traders in
crime do not wholly confine their seductions to the young; they often
find apt scholars among the unfortunates of riper years, especially
in the _debtor's prison_. Mr. Wakefield[152] says he knows many such
victims; and he particularizes one 'Who was not indeed executed,
because he took poison the night before he was to have been executed,
who told me he had been, (and who I firmly believe was) first incited
to crime when a Prisoner in the _Fleet_ for debt. The crime into which
he was seduced was that of passing forged Bank of England Notes. He
was a Man of very showy appearance, and he had been a Captain in the
Army; a man of good family. He said this crime was first suggested
to him by persons who were Prisoners in the Fleet; but he afterwards
discovered, having been a Prisoner there more than once, that one of a
gang of Utterers of forged Notes lived constantly in the _Fleet_, and
for no other purpose but that of inducing reckless young men of good
appearance, who could easily pass notes, to take Notes from them, and
to dispose of them in transactions. I could hardly believe that that
was true, and I got some inquiries to be made for the person whom he
had pointed out to me as one of a Gang, and I found that that person
was constantly in the _Fleet_. The Gang committed a robbery upon a
Bank in Cornwall, and they were entirely broken up, and from that time
forth the Person who had resided in the _Fleet_ disappeared, though he
was not one of the persons convicted, or suspected of that particular
Crime. I never heard of him since, but the inquiries which I then made,
convinced me that it was a fact that one of the Gang of what are termed
'family men,' that is, rich thieves and receivers of stolen goods, did
reside continually in the _Fleet_, for the purpose of seducing young
men into the commission of Crime. He was in and out of the Prison, but
a Prisoner on a friendly arrest."
The time was coming, when imprisonment for debt was to be abolished.
An Act of 1 & 2 Vict. cap. 110 had already abolished Arrest on Mesne
Process in Civil Actions, so that no prisoners could be committed to
the Fleet from the Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, and Common Pleas,
and the Debtors and Bankrupts might as well be in the Queen's Bench.
The Demolition of the Fleet was therefore confidently anticipated, as
we find by the following paragraph from the _Times_, March 3, 1841.
"REMOVAL OF PRISONERS. On Saturday a deputation from the Woods and
Forests, attended by the Marshal, visited the Queen's Bench Prison,
preparatory to moving over the Debtors from the Fleet, which prison
is about to be pulled down. By this arrangement the Country will save
about £15,000 per annum, besides getting rid of an ugly object, and
room being made for other contemplated improvements. It is supposed the
Judges will find some difficulty in removing the Prisoners from the
Fleet by Habeas Corpus, and that a short Bill will be necessary for
that purpose. The expenses of the Queen's Bench Prison in its present
profitless employment, is about £30,000 per annum to the Country."
This announcement was slightly premature, for the Act for its
demolition (5 & 6 Victoriæ, cap. 22) was not passed until May 31,
1842. The Prisoners objected to the Transfer to the Queen's Bench,
preferring their comparative liberty as they were, to the more
stringent rules of the other prison: one clause in the new Act being:
"And be it enacted, That after the passing of this Act, no Prisoner
in the Queen's Prison shall be allowed to send for, or to have any
Beer, Ale, Victuals or other Food, or to send for, have or use any
Bedding, Linen, or other Things, except such as shall be allowed to be
brought by them respectively under such Rules, to be made in the Manner
directed by this Act, as may be reasonable and expedient to prevent
Extravagance and Luxury, and for enforcing due Order and Discipline
within the Prison."
I have before me the Original Subscription list of a scheme of
"Resistance
to
The Abolition of the Fleet Prison.
April 9th, 1842."
The author of the Letter of "Fleta to the Lords, calling upon them
individually to Oppose the Bill _for transferring the Debtors in the
Fleet_ to the Queen's Prison, respectfully calls upon all Parties
interested in an _Opposition to the said Bill_, to render him such
pecuniary assistance in forwarding his Object, as may be consistent
with their Views or Convenience." A list of Subscriptions follows, but
although 25/-was promised, only 15/-appears to be paid. They held
meetings, a notice calling one of which is facsimiled; but it was of
no avail, and they had to go.
[Illustration:
_Notice_
The _Memorial_ to the Lord
High Chancellor, and to the
Judges of the Supreme
Courts of Law, will lie for
_Signatures_ at the Tap
from 12 till 2 o'Clock.
Fleet.
Wed. May. 4. 1842.]
One Philip Ball, a Chancery Prisoner, composed
"THE LAST DAYS OF THE FLEET!"
A melancholy Chaunt,
_Written by a_ COLLEGIAN, _on the occasion of the Queen's
Prison Bill receiving the Royal Assent._
Air. 'The Fine Old English Gentleman.'
1
I'll sing to you a bran new song
Made by my simple pate,
About the end of the good old Fleet,
Which on us now shuts its gate.
It has kept confin'd the choicest lads
That e'er together met--
Of merry, jolly, rattling dogs,
A regular slap up set.
Of jovial Fleet prisoners,
All of the present day.
2
This good old pris'n in every room
Contains a merry soul,
Who for his doings out of doors
Is now drop't 'in the hole.'
But surely this is better far
Than your simple plodding way,
Get deep in debt, go through the Court,
And whitewash it all away.
Like a jovial Fleet prisoner,
All of the present day.
3
Such right good hearts are rarely found,
As round me now I see;
With such, I'm 'most inclined to say,
Hang liberty for me.
For T----y, S----y, V----h,
In spirits who excel?
How could we better live than here,
Where friendship weaves her spell?
'Mongst jovial Fleet prisoners,
All of the present day.
4
To racquets, skittles, whistling shops,
We must soon say farewell;
The Queen's assent to her prison bill
Has rung their funeral knell;
And Bennett, Gray, and Andrew too
Must close their welcome doors,
For sing song and tape spinning now,
This damn'd new Act all floors,
For the jovial Fleet prisoner,
All of the present day.
5
But to her gracious Majesty
You'll long be loyal and true,
Although this latest act of hers
Must be felt by some of you.
Speed through the Court, or compromise
Like gallant Captain T----h,
Or else you'll soon be sent to grieve
Your guts out in the Bench.
All melancholy prisoners[153]
Unlike those of the present day.
Much, however, as the prisoners might grieve, it was of no use kicking
against an Act of Parliament, and those prisoners who did not take
advantage of the Insolvent Debtors Act, were transferred to the Queen's
Prison, which in its turn ceased to be a debtor's prison, and was used
by Military offenders, until it was sold on Oct. 30, 1879, and pulled
down in that and the following year. Now, legally speaking, there is no
imprisonment for debt, but people are only committed for Contempt of
Court.
The Commissioners of Woods and Forests invited Tenders for the site and
buildings of the late Fleet Prison, the estate of which contained above
One Acre, with a frontage of about 251 feet, towards Farringdon Street,
and a depth of about 230 feet. The tenders were returnable on Oct. 22,
1844, and the Corporation of the City of London became the owners of
the property at a sum variously stated at £25,000 to £29,000, and the
sale of its building materials commenced on April 5, 1845. Its exterior
was not particularly attractive.
And so it passed away, and half the present inhabitants of London the
Great do not even know its site, which was not finally cleared until
1846. As a guide to those who wish to know its locality I may mention
that the CONGREGATIONAL MEMORIAL HALL AND LIBRARY, in Farringdon
Street, stands on a portion of its site.
[Illustration: FARRINGDON STREET AND THE FLEET PRISON.]
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF FLEET PRISON.]
[Illustration: SECTION OF THE PRISON.]
Before quitting the subject of the Fleet prison I cannot help referring
to "the grate." Like Ludgate, it had a room open to the street, but
furnished with a strong iron grating, behind which sat a prisoner, who
called the attention of the passers-by monotonously chanting, "Pray
Remember the poor Prisoners." A box was presented for the reception of
contributions, but very little money was thus obtained.
[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE GRATE.]
The begging grate was served by poor prisoners who had to swear that
they were not worth £5 in the world. He was then entitled to share the
contents of the begging box, and also be a partaker of the charities
and donations to the Prison, which amounted to the magnificent sum of
£39 19s., besides meat, coals, and bread.
Prisoners of all sorts and conditions met here, on one common basis,
one of the last of any mark being Richard Oastler, who was the leader
of the Ten Hours' Bill Movement, and from this prison he issued a
series of "Fleet Papers" about Free Trade, Factories Acts, and the
Amalgamation of the Prisons. He died in 1861, and a memorial to him was
erected at Leeds.
[Footnote 152: Evidence of Mr. Wakefield before Parliamentary
Committee of 1837.]
[Footnote 153: When the prisoners were removed there were two
who had been incarcerated upwards of thirty years, and were in
the Queen's prison in 1845.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Fleet Marriages.